awesomeness

Everything Nintendo has done in the past 10 years seems to have led to this. The Wii U, the name for the Japanese new console, is a mix of reaction to the rise of iPad gaming, the growing diversity of consumers and the experience developing for the Nintendo 3DS. It looks to be that one console that hopes to unite the two separate factions of the market — the hard-core gamers and the casual player.

I had some hands on time with the controller. (The specs and software of the system including Nintendo’s online strategy are still a mystery.) In next generation, the power behind the hardware seems secondary to how players interact with the system. The hard-core will like the dual analog sticks, buttons and the triggers on the device.

And the BioShock Infinite hype machine gets rolling today with the release of a video of a demo. It’ll be up exclusively on Xbox Live for 24 hours today, then it’ll be up on the game’s web site Sept. 22. Keep in mind that this is a video of the demo, not the demo itself, so those thinking that you can see what it plays like will have to wait a while. In the meantime, you can check out these fancy screenshots.

If you’re afraid of spoilers, don’t read this. Get as far away as possible. Flee and hide behind a coffee table or cower in your bedsheets. Forget you came across this post. If you have one of those Men in Black memory erasers, please use it on yourself.

This post, if you dare to read it, explodes with shocking information about Mass Effect 2. I’ve played the first two hours of the game and will go over the following: character migration from original to sequel, the new threat to humanity, Cerberus, the new characters, and yes, the fate of the Normandy and its crew.

Be warned. You can’t unlearn what you read here. Your only hope is ramming your head into a brick wall and praying for amnesia. (I advise that you don’t do it and I’m not responsible if you do that. I can’t be blamed for your own stupidity.) But now that we got that out of the way, I can go on and tell you this: BioWare makes good on everything.

At a preview this week, the studio’s general manager and CEO Ray Muzyka said, “This is BioWare’s best game to date. … When we first announced Mass Effect in 2005, we said it was the start of a trilogy. We also made a bold promise that you’d be able to create a character who would progress through this epic trilogy, across the biggest science fiction storyline that we could possibly tell. We wanted to provide a really deep experience for all interactions large and small that would affect the ongoing story of the Mass Effect trilogy. Tonight, we’re proud to announce that we’re finally delivering on that promise.

“Mass Effect 1 was an introduction to the series, the call to glory, an idyllic future where Commander Shepard comes face to face with humanity’s greatest threat. Mass Effect 2 is the dark second act.”

So this is house a $150 controller looks like. MadCatz’s Street Fighter IV Tournament Edition FightStick arrived at the GameStop in downtown Berkeley and I rushed over to pick it up. It’s big. It’s heavy. And it plays like a dream.

The difference isn’t that great. It’s more like going from a Honda Civic to a Mercedes Benz. You drive both. They serve the same purpose: They get you from Point A to Point B. But it’s all in the feel. The TE FightStick plays so smooth, it feels like the controller is made of ivory.

I’m sure no elephants went into the making of the controller, but man, it does feel that way. You just have to pick one up to understand what I’m saying. But good luck doing that, apparently, demand has oustripped supply and these things are going for $309.99 on eBay.

I just wet myself. After watching this trailer for the LittleBigPlanet Metal Gear Solid pack, I can safely say that this is a must-buy. Are you kidding me? Not only does it feature an Old Snake, Raiden and Meryl, the pack also seems to feature a crazy paintball gun.

The whole thing looks like it turns LittleBigPlanet into something like Contra or Metal Slug.

The PlayStation blog has the details. The pack comes out Dec. 23. In the meantime, it’s time for me to do some laundry now …

If I weren’t miserably sick and coughing my lungs out like a pneumonia patient, I would be jumping for joy at this moment. The reason for my irrational exuberance? Keita Takahashi’s new game Noby Noby Boy is coming to the PlayStation Network soon. And when I mean soon, it’s early 2009.

If you don’t know, Mr. Takahashi is a friggin’ genius and the creator of Katamari Damacy, one of the most important games to come in 2004. It has such a particular aesthetic and gameplay that everyone tries to emulate, but never quite nails down.

The closest game that picks up that Katamari Damacy feel would be the Shingo Mukaitoge-led team at Konami, which produced Elebits.

Anyway, Noby Noby Boy looks like it’s going to have some amazing features, which include an online mode and the ability to record gameplay and upload it to YouTube. It’ll be interesting to see how the actual game turns out. If it’s anything like Katamari Damacy, then call me excited.

One of my journalism school teachers told me the most powerful word in the English language is “free.” “Free” can get you a second look at a magazine rack. It can be an incentive to pick up something that you otherwise wouldn’t.

Well, just in time for Guitar Hero World Tour’s release, Harmonix and company are releasing 20 free downloadable tracks to Rock Band 2. That could be $20 to $40 if you were to buy the songs via album or individually. They will be available Nov. 4.

But to get the songs, you must have the Rock Band 2 instruction manual. Check the back and there will be a bonus track code. Go here and type in that 20-digit code to get a 25-digit code for the bonus tracks.

I know it’s a round about way to getting these songs, but it’s free, free, free* and you can’t go wrong with that.

*Well, you have to give some personal information but I do that a lot anyway.

This is by far the coolest advertisement I’ve seen on the Web. It even one-ups those Apple banner ads with Mac and PC. If you haven’t seen it, all I have to say is watch it. At first, Wario Land Shake It looks conventinal, but when Wario starts shaking things for money, it starts getting crazy.